One Brave Girl
by VastraJennyLove
Summary: Neither Vastra or Jenny expected things to go like this
1. Following

She set off into the night, her veil flowed around her face as she swiftly made her way down the street. She was Vastra. She was The Great Detective.

'Another cold night, just great!' she hissed, the cold biting her emerald body threatening to engulf her. Vastra hated the cold, aside from being a nuisance it slowed her down, she couldn't react to an attack as quick and it made her even grumpier than normal. She really had no reason to leave the warmth of her house at 13 Paternoster Row but she had been inside for 2 weeks due to the cold and she needed to eat, and being a Silurian the only way Vastra knew to get her food was to hunt for it. She carried on through the night like a shadow, unless you were looking out for her you wouldn't know she was there. She kept walking for what she described as ages which in fact would have been about 5 minutes. Eventually she came across a young girl, 'Perfect, an easy meal.' She muttered under her breath. She began to follow the girl, but she couldn't bring herself to kill her. 'Get yourself together Vastra! She's nothing more than a rotten stinking ape, you used to kill apes for sport, just one flick of your tounge and she will be dead!' but she couldn't do it. She was about to turn away and then she heard a voice. 'Ere, why are you following me?' It was the girl in front of her that spoke, For the first time in her life Vastra was speechless. Finally she spoke. 'Why are you out at such a late hour by yourself, shouldn't you be home in bed by now? Its 1 o'clock in the morning!' 'No 'ome to go to ma'am.' Came the reply. 'I live on the streets, now are you going answer me question, why are you following me?' The girl was bold and confident, that was the first thing that Vastra noticed. 'I was going to eat you!' it was then she realised what she had actually said. 'You were going to eat me?' the girl shrieked, she began to back off, 'What kinda monster are ya?' The girl was now pressed against a wall with nowhere to go. 'Do you really want to know what kind of a monster I am?' questioned Vastra. The girl gave a slight nod, and with that Vastra lifted off her veil. The reaction from the girl was nothing like what she had expected. She found herself directly staring into the girls eyes, the girl didn't look afraid anymore, she was smiling, well at least that's what Vastra thought it was, she wasn't very good with human emotions. They stayed like that for a few more seconds before the girl finally broke the silence. 'I 'ope you don't mind me sayin ma'am but you're beautiful, I mean I 'avent ever seen any other green people walkin round 'ere but I 'onestly fink you're beautiful. Vastra took a step back, she was shocked, honestly and truly shocked. 'You don't want to scream? Faint? Run?' she asked. 'Well yes and no.' came the reply, 'I mean you tried to eat me but now I can see ye face you ain't so scary anymore!' the girl stopped for a moment and Vastra could see she was thinking about something. Finally she spoke again, 'Ma'am, what is your name?' she sounded hesitant but still asked the question. 'My name is Vastra, though most people know me as The Great Detective.' The girls mouth dropped open, so wide that Vastra wasn't sure that it was possible for such a small ape shut it again. 'You're the great detective?' she paused and then spoke again, 'If you solve crimes then why were you going to eat me?' she looked confused and Vastra could, for once, understand why, 'I haven't been outside for 2 weeks which means I haven't eaten in 2 weeks, the cold slows me down and if anyone tried to attack I can't defend myself as well, you see young ape, im a Silurian, an intelligent reptile from an ancient civilisation long proceeding man kind, I am not built to survive in the cold as I am cold blooded. I also have a question, what is your name?' the girl was looking at Vastra in a curious way and kept that look before answering her question. 'Jenny ma'am, Jenny Flint.' The girl, Jenny, was unusual, she wasn't like most people, that was the second thing Vastra noticed, she didn't scream and run when she saw what Vastra really looked like. 'Well Jenny Flint, I have a proposition for you, I am in need of a maid and due to my what some people are pleased to call disfigurement, it is very hard to employ someone, would you be up for the job? You will have a room in my home and you will have the daily chores of a regular maid, however there is something you need to know. I only drink tea and blood and eat raw meat, so do you accept my offer? Jenny stood there for a moment before looking Vastra in the eyes and with a firm nod said 'Yes'.


	2. Home we go

p class="MsoNormal"They set off walking home, Vastra noticed Jenny had a smile on her face and couldn't understand why so she decided to ask, 'Why are you smiling young Jenny, I just tried to kill you and now asked to you be my maid and you're smiling?' Jenny let out a little giggle then took a deep breath and started to explain 'Well ma'am, I 'avent 'ad an 'ouse for a long time now, been out on streets since I was 5 years old and I'm 15 now and I was just thinking how lucky I am that you did try to eat me because I'm now getting an 'ome, safe from the gutters of London, and to get a job on top of that, I would 'ave to say this is the best day of my life!' Well this completely baffled Vastra she looked away from Jenny and then looked back at her only to see a frown, 'What is wrong?' she asked, 'Ma'am I only 'ave the clothes that are on my back an I 'ave worn 'em for a long time…' she trailed off and stopped walking and was looking at the ground, her cheeks had turned a rosy red, 'She's embarrassed,' thought Vastra. 'Jenny, whatever is the matter, you shouldn't be embarrassed about that, when I came to the surface I had only my Silurian warrior attire, only one of the many I had back under the surface and It took me weeks and weeks to get together enough money to buy one of these dresses.' She smiled as she said it trying to reassure Jenny. 'Thanks ma'am,' she said, 'You're not going to fire me before I start then?' Vastra felt sorry for her, but she couldn't help wonder why she had no family, 'Tell you what, tomorrow we will go to the market first thing and get you some new clothes, for tonight I will give you some of mine, they will be much too big for you but they will be better than nothing.' Jenny looked up at her and smiled once more, 'Thank you ma'am, I'd like that very much.' Vastra didn't know why she was being so protective and caring over this young ape, but she was and she knew full well that when a Silurian felt like this then it really meant there was something about the other person (or ape) that was special./p 


	3. It's not right

When they got home, Vastra asked jenny if she could make some tea for them both, she was very cold and she was still hungry, she made a comment about still being hungry and then she heard Jenny shout something to her 'I'm just going out ma'am I wont be long!' Great thought Vastra, she thinks I'm going to eat her, ill never see her again now. She sat there thinking about how great the past half an hour of company had been until she heard someone come through the door. She jumped up and unsheathed her katana which was always strapped to her side. She slowly made her way to the hall only to see Jenny hanging her coat lent to her by Vastra up with 3 dogs and 2 cats dead in her hands. Vastra was shocked 'How did you get these Jenny?' she asked. Jenny smiled at her 'Ma'am I've lived on the streets for 10 years, I had to get food from somewhere and you learn a few things about killing when you live on the streets of London. Vastra was impressed, she also thought how useful she could be if she taught her to wield a sword correctly. Still she was hungry and asked Jenny to go prepare her food. Just take of the fur she had told her and Jenny did as she was asked without complaint or grumble. Vastra was sat in front of the blazing fire trying to warm herself up when Jenny brought her food in. She set the tray down and turned round to leave, 'Wait!' called Vastra, 'Yes ma'am?' came the reply. 'Stay with me whilst I eat, I have been terribly lonely for a long time and now I have company but that company is no use to me if it is somewhere else in the house.' Jenny was shocked, it wasn't heard of for a maid to sit with their employer whilst they ate. 'But ma'am I can't a maid isn't supposed to sit with their employer,' When she said this, Vastra let out a small chuckle, 'Jenny my dear, I'm not exactly your regular employer and I do believe a maid is supposed to listen to their employer and yours has told you to stay!' She motioned to a chair across from her and Jenny sat down.


	4. One Word Test

They were talking for a while before Vastra finally decided to give Jenny a test, the one word test. 'Jenny im going to ask you questions, you will confine yourself to single word responses, one word only do you understand?'

'Yes.'

'Why did you live on the streets?

'Poor.'

'Do you have a family?'

'Did.'

'Where are they now?'

'Dead.'

'What happened?'

'Murdered.'

'I'm sorry, I didn't know.' Vastra felt sick, she knew just how Jenny felt, her own sisters had been killed. 'Look Jenny I understand how you feel.' Jenny looked up at her and spoke 'With all respect ma'am how could you possibly know how I feel?' It was then that Jenny saw the look of hurt and pain in her mistress's eyes, those cerulean eyes. 'Jenny you know the London underground?' Jenny nodded, she knew what it was, everyone talked about it, 'Well my tribe lived under the earth and we were in hibernation, until one day we were woken by a huge explosion, I was the lucky one, I was on the very end but the rest of my tribe, my sisters, were crushed by tons of rock. Everyone of my kind, killed just like that, there was no life for me there now and that's why I came to the surface.' She looked at Jenny, she looked heartbroken, then she did something that Vastra did not expect, Jenny stood up, walked the short distance from her chair to Vastra's and hugged her, she finally let go after about 10 seconds and looked at Vastra, 'Ma'am I'm so sorry, you didn't have to tell me,' Vastra stood up and looked at Jenny, 'I was open with you as you were with me, you could have lied to me and told me something different, now Jenny, I brought you back here for a reason more than just being my maid, I want to train you up, train you to fight with hand to hand combat and with swords, I want you to be my assistant and help solve crimes with me!' This left Jenny speechless, she didn't know what to say but she didn't have time, there was a knock at the door and she ran to it, smoothing out her clothes before opening the door. There was a man there asking for Madame Vastra, she suddenly appeared behind Jenny, 'Ah inspector what a lovely surprise, another case I suspect?' The inspector looked at Madame Vastra and said 'A simple one though Madame, there is a gang of men that are threatening the locals but nobody can tell us what they look like, we just know they tend to stay near The White Horse pub, we need you to go and observe but do not act unless attacked.' Vastra understood why but she didn't like that she couldn't just kill them all with a flick of her tongue, still she told Jenny she would be back late and to go to bed and not to wait up for her so Jenny nodded and went to fetch Madame's Cloak, veil and katana and watched as Vastra set off.


	5. Injuries

It was 4am and Jenny was tired but she didn't want to go to bed until Vastra returned home. An hour later she got up to stoke the fire as it was going out, she was just reaching to get a piece of wood to keep it warm for when Madame returned when she heard a loud bang at the door and a scared voice call her name. She raced to the door and opened it to find Vastra on the floor bleeding from more places than she should have been. Jenny didn't hesitate, she grabbed Vastra under her arms and dragged her inside, she got her on the couch and began to take of her shredded clothing, she had a large cut across her chest and stomach, her left calf had been sliced open, and she had a deep cut on the top of her thigh. Jenny went to fetch some alcohol (primitive yes but effective) and some boiled water and cloth. She came back and walked in to see Vastra looking at her wounds, 'Ma'am I'm going to 'ave to put some alcohol on them wounds, it will sting something terrible but they could get infected if I don't.' She looked up at Vastra who gave a slight nod. Jenny put a few drops of it on the cut on the top of her thigh, Vastra hissed in pain and took hold of Jenny's hand in a deathly strong grip. 'Goddess that hurt,' she finally managed to say, 'Will the rest be that painful?' she asked, Jenny nodded, 'if it has to be done, I know I am strong and I hurt your hand but when you do it please hold my hand?' Jenny looked at her employed, 'Course I will Ma'am, im sorry I 'ave to do this to you, I 'ate the thought of 'urting you.' It was then Vastra began to think where had she got so lucky, she had known this girl a number of hours and already they had formed a strong bond that felt unbreakable. Jenny finished bandaging up Vastra's wounds and heard Vastra making some strange noises that sounded like hissing and clicking. When Vastra saw the confused look on Jenny's face she explained them to her, 'That is the language of my people, it is Silurian, I was saying how grateful I am to of had you here tonight.' Vastra looked at her seriously now, 'I was crept up on, normally that wouldn't happen and I would have had the man before he would know what was happening but the cold affects me greatly and I am not as agile and my hearing is not as good, he cut me on my chest and somehow pushed me to the ground, then called his pals over and between them they pinned me down and attacked me. It was only when they saw my face that they left me there, bleeding and ran, I managed to make my way home but I didn't think I would, I was so cold.' It was then Jenny realised just how cold Madame had felt, she hadn't noticed though because of all the blood she was losing, 'I was so glad to have you here for I fear that if you hadn't of been, I couldn't have survived.' Once again Jenny carefully leant across and gave Vastra a hug, 'Sorry Ma'am I guess I'm just an 'uggy person.' She laughed, but then looked sad, 'I remember when I was younger before I lost my family, my ma used to say that I liked 'ugs too much. Vastra looked at Jenny, 'You don't have to talk about it, I understand.' Jenny gave a slight smile to her mistress, 'Anyway I need to finish this food and I think we had better head to bed, after all it is 5 in the morning!' Jenny suddenly shot up, '5 in the morning, ma'am I 'ave to be up at 6, maids start work at 6 in the morning!' Vastra gave a sympathetic look to Jenny 'Well Jenny, tomorrow you start at 10, and you do not get out of bed till at least 9, do you hear me?' Jenny looked grateful, she didn't think she would be very good company after just one hours sleep


	6. Never alone again

p class="MsoNormal"It was now 9:15am and Jenny decided that she had spent enough time in bed, she got up and changed into her clothes and went to make tea. Madame Vastra was still in bed so Jenny went to wake her up, 'Do I have to get up now?' whimpered Vastra, Jenny now knew that Vastra was not a morning person at all. 'Ma'am its 'alf past 9, Vastra uncurled herself from the ball of blankets and duvets and looked around, 'It was so cold last night, I couldn't stay warm.' Jenny laughed, 'Ma'am I was boiling last night!' Vastra gave her a cheeky grin, 'Couldn't you have shared some of that heat with me?' Jenny's cheeks turned pink and she looked to the ground, Vastra couldn't help but supress a laugh, 'Oh Jenny you do get embarrassed easily and it's only your first day in proper employment of me!' Jenny looked up at Vastra, 'I did 'ave a girlfriend once, 'er name was Victoria but everyone called her Vicky, 'er parents found out about 'er and me and kicked her out of the 'ouse, we lived together on the streets for about 4 years and then one day she just left me, no reason given to me, and then I was on me own again.' Vastra looked at Jenny, 'how would you feel about your new girlfriend being a lizard woman from the dawn of time?' Jenny's eyes shot up looking into Vastra's, 'But ma'am you haven't even known each other a day yet!' Vastra had a look on her face that looked like the was deeply thinking about something. 'I read somewhere about love at first sight in apes… I mean humans, I never thought I would experience it but I think I love you Jenny.' From that night on, Vastra never slept alone again./p 


End file.
